Growing chillies from seed

[Charles Pic]

Any green fingered types in here? I picked up a packed of “Cayenne Long Slim” chilli seeds in the supermarket (Capsicum annuum L). How should I start these off for best results - would you soak the seeds or plant into mini pots and start watering?

hopefully they will be happy on a kitchen windowsill until it warms up outside. Guess they need summer weather to really thrive?

[Nigel R]

Greenhouse job, so I've been told. Heat and light needed.

Grown bell peppers before, just put them into mini pots and off they went. In uK weather they came out very green and bitter though!

[Andrew767]

Charles

I've grown both Finger and Birdseye chillies in the past. Do as you plan on the kitchen window sill, then pot on into larger pots and put outside when it's warmer. They will tolerate much cooler conditions than you would imagine but keep them out of the wind. Only other thing i would add would be to leave planting the seed until the end of the month or they will be ready to go outside a bit too early , at least in the north that is.

Andrew

[Plummet]

A useful website is

**LINK**

You can enter where you live and it adjusts suggested dates for planting etc. See in the top right hand corner of the front page.

Plummet

[McG 6969]

Hi Charles,

Surprisingly, I've been growing different species of chillies, from the quite common Jalapenos up to very hot Scottish Caps, over the years.

My best experiences were as follow:

- put the seeds in the refrigerator (not the freezer!) for 24 hours.

- after that damp some kitchen roll paper in a plastic plate as a mat and cover them as well, keeping the paper wet AND warm at about 27°C. A photographic bath mat or aquarium mat is ideal here. The trick is to keep them that way until they start to germinate. No light needed so far.

- then put a few of them (say 3 or 4) in small plastic pots, about 1cm deep with the new germ to the underside of the pot. You can fill as many pots as you have seeds, of course. The soil needs to be kept damp but not watery or muddy. The seeds wil get rotten otherwise.

- at this phase they still need the warm environment but need light as well. Ideally some 'plant growing LEDs (red & blue) to accelerate grow. Some will grow fine, others will not. Hence the multiple seeds per little pot.

- when the have at least 2 grown leafs, they can be transplanted into a bit larger pots (+/- 10cm diameter) and kept on a south-sided windowsill.

- when the roots are strong enough, transplant in larger pots and they are ready to be put outside (around april/may in Belgium).

Just my two €-cent & good luck

Cheers

Chris

[Don Fry]

In SW France, coriander is like gold dust. I've never been able to grow it, but I'm a rubbish gardener. Any ideas?

[Plummet]

Posted by Don Fry on 01/03/2019 11:58:42:

In SW France, coriander is like gold dust. I've never been able to grow it, but I'm a rubbish gardener. Any ideas?

I have not tried growing it, but some years ago we knew a lady who taught Urdu. She grew it well.

This was in Bradford, so the climate is not like SW France, but she just planted a few seeds in a row. They grew quickly, and was soon ready to harvest (the leaf - that is) so she had to make a series of successive sowings in order to keep it available.

The bit of land she used was amazing. It was a strip of fine gravel that was between her concrete or tarmac (I forget) driveway and the brick wall of her house. I think that the strip was between 6" and 9" wide. I have no idea what sois was under the gravel (if any).

So poor soil and lots of heat from the wall. That sounds as if SW France has more possibilities.

Plummet

[Charles Pic]

Thanks for all your info folks, that is perfect for me because I am a beginner with this kind of stuff. I’ll follow the advice go put the seeds in the fridge for a day, then damp kitchen paper in a warm place, and see how I go from there.

Thanks again for all your input!

[Don Fry]

I'll have another go. What does not help is the local slugs seem to eat slug pellets as a tasty snack.

[Charles Pic]

After ten days, only 1 of my 6 seeds had sprouted. So that one has now been planted into a small pot. Not sure if the others are going to do anything so I have started 6 more seeds in damp kitchen paper. I did just realise though that I’ve omitted the “fridge for 24 hours” stage from the latest batch of 6. Will have to wait and see if they sprout anyway.

Needa lot of patience in this growing game, huh?

[Don Fry]

Someone gave me a chilli plant a few years ago. It produced a large number of chillis. So many, there are still some in the freezer. You would only need 2, heir and a spare.

Patience? Flying planes taught me patience.

[Plummet]

Posted by Charles Pic on 11/03/2019 12:08:09:

After ten days, only 1 of my 6 seeds had sprouted. So that one has now been planted into a small pot. Not sure if the others are going to do anything so I have started 6 more seeds in damp kitchen paper. I did just realise though that I’ve omitted the “fridge for 24 hours” stage from the latest batch of 6. Will have to wait and see if they sprout anyway.

Chilli seeds need to be kept warm to germinate.

**LINK**

The web page above suggests above 20 C.

This only seems fair - we keep them warm when they are little, and they provide heat in return when they have grown up.

I have also read that germination may take 10 days or so.

Plummet

[Don Fry]

And Pummet, thank you for the gardening advice but I will pass. I really am rubbish at looking after plants.

[Charles Pic]

Well blow me down, after moving the plate of recalcitrant chilli seeds to a cupboard above my fridge, suddenly the remaining 5 from the original 6 batch have all germinated since last weekend and have been potted on.

The first one, which was potted up last weekend has now burst out above the surface of the potting compost and is probably wondering why it’s so dingy in my kitchen. How important is it that they have not just light, but bright light at this stage?

just wondering if I should rig up some artificial lighting, or whether I still have a chance of success without going to this trouble?

[McG 6969]

Hi Charles,

'Bright light' is the message here. Around 12 hours/day.

Best is some 'plant growing light' around the solar spectrum, ie Kelvin temp of around 5600 K degree.

As I wrote before some panel with a mix of red & blue Leds hanging horizontally above the young plants is perfect. You can also find them in a bulb shape with a household type socket.

Keep the faith & good luck for tomorrow's GP...

Cheers

Chris

[Ben B]

Chillis like heat and time. As advised refridgerating is helpful as is a soak in cold tea for ten minutes before planting. I personally don't do the kitchen paper trick as the seedlings sometimes get a shock when they hit soil and get sulky.

I'm currently growing thirteen chillis under grow lamps

1 Bhut Jalokia (Worlds second hottest- currently harvesting red chillis of this one)

2 Carolina Reaper (Worlds hottest chiili currently)- both about 4 inches tall- about to pot them on

4 "Roquito" style plants - still small seedlings

3 Scotch bonnet plants (flowering)- taken from cuttings from last year's bush (which I'm also attempting to over-winter)

3 Serano chillis from Wahacha "guerilla chilli planting" seeds

Only the Reaper and Bhuts took a tea soak to get them going.

Growing chillis under grow lamps is very achievable- I used about 60W total LED power for the above plants.

Most important thing with chillis grown indoors is you won't get chillis unless you artificially polinate- I tend to use a cotton bud for this. Otherwise (unless you get a rogue bea indoors) you'll just get lots of lovely flowers which immediately drop without chilli formation).

[Ben B]

PS if you do buy one of the cheaper LED "grow lamps"- be really very careful- the first one I bought had a flat plate at the front with the LEDs stuck on it and two wires appearing from the base into the middle of the plate and soldered in place- transpires it was totally exposed 240v AC! Quite literally shocking!!!

[Charles Pic]

Thanks guys, sounds as though I need to rig up a light on a timer. I’m not keen to have to buy anything, so would using a regular led lightbulb work? I can probably afford the electric bill of using an Ikea E14 3W bulb on a timer for 12 hours a day.  It’s about 1kWh per month if my mental maths is right  

 

 Would be about 250 lumens I think, but if dangled directly above the mini pots, then hopefully it’s enough

Edited By Charles Pic on 17/03/2019 08:01:35

Edited By Charles Pic on 17/03/2019 08:28:41

[Plummet]

Off topic ... ish ...

I sent away for some special unusual onions. (Variously known as Tree, Egyptian, or Walking Onions.)

The company were selling one onion plant, but they promised to send four, so that there was a good chance that one would survive. When they arrived there were not four but seven.

I planted them all, and six out of the seven are growing.

Plummet

[Don Fry]

I've now got a thought worm circling in my head, Plummet rigging an electric fence to keep the walking onions in the patch.

[Plummet]

If I rig an electric fence around my plot then it is more likely that it would be to deter (cook?) the sweet little (I don't think) bunny rabbits with which I have to attempt to share my vegetables.

Plummet

p.s. I know that I am not the speediest person around, but I can still overtake one of the onions.

Edited By Plummet on 17/03/2019 17:53:31

[Martin McIntosh]

I have grown chillies of many types for a number of years. The success rate can be very variable. I have never heard of the cold tea or refrigeration method, but on buying some specialist seeds from a local chilli festival last year (Carolina Reaper, Bhut Jolokia, Gusto Purple and quite a few other evil ones) I was advised to plant the really hot ones as early as November. Easier ones like Basket of Fire, Numex etc are OK up to the end of March or so. I already had a 48x15" frame with a thermostatic 90W tubular heater in the greenhouse and was advised to add lighting on a timer so I got a long 4W LED to provide 12hrs of light. Instructions vary depending on the variety; some say to soak in water for a day, some not.

I always start seeds in small pots of Miracle Grow, cling film them then leave in the airing cupboard until the first (yellow) leaves appear, then transfer to the frame minus the film The hottest ones take up to three weeks. Reapers usually germinate OK then wither away as do some Jolokias and Scorpion Yellows so I plant far more than I shall need later. Things like Scotch Bonnet and ordinary green chillies are alright outside but slugs are the main problem so I put grow bags on top of old camping kitchen units to deter them. The rest stay in pots in the greenhouse.

Aphids and Blackfly appeared as early as last December so I have had to spray them every few days. Slugs are kept at bay here by painting Copperslip round the inside and outside of the greenhouse base; also on the metal staging. It really works but I add slug pellets for good measure.

 

I also find the time to build models over the winter.

Edited By Martin McIntosh on 17/03/2019 20:44:37

[Charles Pic]

Thanks for your further replies, chaps. I now have four seedlings and have positioned them on a windowsill with a reflector made of cardboard and tin foil behind them, to grab a bit more sunlight.

Lets hooe they develop and that i can pot them on and get them outside in maybe a month or so.